Hierbij het raceverslag dat ik op het forum van Sim-Challenge heb geplaatst:
Let me first do a short introduction. Andre and me, team Motorsport, were already competitors in the first and second Global simracing championships of the world, the Champions Leagues 1 and 2 of GPL in 1999 and 2000. Just like this very fine Sim-Challenge competition you had to qualify for every and each race. We managed to do that although we were midfield most of the time. Huttu, Hartikainen, Enströhm and some other fast GTR drivers of today were leading those fantastic and highly competitive "founding father" leagues.
Almost 7 years later we wondered if we could still and again make it into the main race of very probably the best bunch of simracers in the world. We thought our chances were slim. In the years that had past more and more good drivers had entered the scene. With hard work and some luck we made it. 20th and 24th on the grid. Not expected, but very welcome.
If ever there was a phrase that applied to me it was ‘Last of the Mohikans’. From the moment I started simracing with GP2 in 1997 till just over 2 weeks ago I drove with joystick. In the GPL days there was of course also the fabulous Wolfgang Woeger, who as a stickdriver only had to bow for 1 other simracer, Greger Huttu. I believe the moment Woeger switched to steering wheel he lost some pace. That thought stayed with me over the years. I have 2 brandnew Microsoft Precision Pro sticks in stock to prove it. But then came the 4th simracing.nl GTR2 championship and suddenly at the not so young age of 43 I had to reconsider my simracing future. The races went over 90 minutes. 45 minutes too long for me as stickdriver. During the first 3 races I had opportunity to steer with my left hand on the long straights. But during the 4th I had no such opportunity. My right hand was so sore afterward that even in the remaining 3 races I suffered because of it. Normally I am strongest in the end of a race, now in the 90 minutes races I was worst in the last third. Something had to happen. The G25 hype made my transition rather easy. I figured it would take me about 1-3 months before my speed was comparable to the old stick times again. If not I could sell the G25 and switch back. It took me exactly 2 hours of G25 training to be as fast (or slow) as before again. After a week I was a few tenths faster and now after almost 3 weeks I am about 0.5 seconds faster. In a race per lap even more. Together with my teammate and fellow citizen of the dutch village of Heerenveen in the northern province of Friesland, Andre de Vries (we have the Frysian flag on the roof of our 550’s), who also bought a G25, we are still experimenting with the settings of the wheel. Over time I guess we can improve another few tenths.
Although I was involved in a rather weird crash I enjoyed myself tremendously in the Magny race yesterday. The moment I decided to attack Emmanuel Taphinaud, Sami Silventoinen went off shortly and fought with Emmanuel instead. Silventoinen was all over the place and I must have counted at least 5 contacts with Taphinaud. On many occasions where it was obvious that the better line was clearly for Taphinaud, Silventoinen nevertheless tried to occupy the raceline. Not very neat. But I didn’t mind. It was written all over Silventoinen’s face that he was going to crash at some time, preferably taking Taphinaud with him. 2 places were up for grabs. I just had to be patient. Within a lap after my first thought that crashing into the wall after the last slow chicane would be the worst place to crash, Silventoinen did just that. He slammed into the wall, was thrown back onto the track, and collided with me. I saw a nose flying, thought it looked familiar, and was confirmed when I drove off again: it was mine. A long lap later I entered the pits and decided to get myself new tyres and no fuel. When I exited the pits I had a full tank, my old tyres, and a negative lap on all the other drivers. What a mix up. Every time someone appeared on my rear bumper the speaker shouted ‘that’s the first!’. So everybody was first and only me was last? Oh boy

After the second stop I managed to drive my usual low 32’s again. Fatigue was no longer a matter. I could have done 3 hours as well. I finished 12th and was confirmed in my opinion that hotlapping is not the same as racing. I don’t like Enna, but neither did I like Magny. Drama circuits for stickdrivers. Fortunately the game has turned to my benefit enormously.